No web design or programming expertise is needed to give your museum a world-class web presence.

Transcription

1 PASTPERFECT-ONLINE PastPerfect-Online is the fast, affordable and easy way to provide public access to your PastPerfect data via the World Wide Web. Built on proven MWeb technology, PastPerfect-Online is capable of quickly displaying hundreds of thousands of catalog records. PastPerfect-Online is both a tool to create searchable HTML web pages and an online hosting service. You select the PastPerfect catalog records, images and data fields you want to publish, and PastPerfect-Online will build a fully searchable collections-based website. We host your online search site for a modest annual fee. You can create a link from an existing website to the online search site. PastPerfect-Online includes a free splash page, which can be used to inform your visitors of suggested search terms and methods. PastPerfect-Online is safe. Only information from the records and fields you select will be available to the public, and your online images can be watermarked without affecting your permanent images. No web design or programming expertise is needed to give your museum a world-class web presence. PASTPERFECT-ONLINE FEATURES INCLUDE: A check box labeled Include in Web Export is displayed on each PastPerfect catalog record screen. Users can check or uncheck that box to choose which records they want to publish to their PastPerfect-Online site. 1

2 PastPerfect-Online User s Guide 2 Users can perform a query or create a catalog list in PastPerfect and after receiving the results, press a button to include all the resulting records for web publication. When records are selected for publication, either individually or by using a query or a catalog list, all associated images will automatically be selected. Each Image Metadata screen will also have a check box labeled Include in Web, thus allowing the user to publish only the images they want. You can use the field list to select which data fields you want to display on the web. For security, fields with values or storage locations of items will not be available for publication. The Web Publishing Wizard helps you easily create advanced search categories and map fields to these search categories. A new thumbnail and a full size image file will be created for each image that is published. All published image files will be converted to JPG format and resized for optimal web usage. A text watermark may be added to the full size image files when they are created. A built-in FTP function makes it easy for you to upload your data and images to the web server. Adjustments can be made to the banner, layout and colors of the web pages at any time. Updates to the records on your site can be made as often as you would like. INSTALLING PASTPERFECT-ONLINE To install the PastPerfect-Online software: 1. From the Main Menu of PastPerfect, click the Setup button. 2. Select System Parameters from the drop-down list. 3. Click the Activate New Features or Unlock Upgrade Options button. 4. Insert the PastPerfect-Online CD into the computer s CD-ROM drive.

3 PastPerfect-Online User s Guide 3 5. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the installation. Once the program is installed, remove the CD and store it in a safe place. Be sure to also save the enclosed documents which contain your web address, user IDs and passwords. You will need them when you upload your files to the server as described later in this document. CREATING YOUR WEBSITE OVERVIEW The following is a summary of the steps to create and post data to your PastPerfect-Online website: 1. Select the records and images you want to publish. 2. Run the Web Publishing Wizard to: Select which data fields to publish and choose the field display order. Modify field names as they will display on the web. Set up advanced search categories and map your data fields. Select which creator, people and search term files to publish. Watermark images. Create web ready data and image files. Upload files to your website. 3. Run the MWeb Preprocessor (PPS) from your Internet browser to update your website. 4. Allow hours for the servers to update the data, then view your site online and make final layout and style adjustments.

4 PastPerfect-Online User s Guide 4 SELECT THE RECORDS AND IMAGES TO PUBLISH PastPerfect-Online can publish information from these PastPerfect data tables: * Object, Archive, Library and Photo catalog records. * Images associated with published catalog records. * Artist/Author/Creator/Photographer records. * People Biography authority file records. * Search Term authority file records. * Archive Container List records. * Sites & Localities authority file records. SELECTING CATALOG RECORDS TO EXPORT You can publish all of your catalog records or just a subset. PastPerfect-Online allows you to select just the records that you want to share on the Web. After installing PastPerfect-Online, you will notice a new check box at the bottom of each catalog record labeled Include in Web Export. To include a record from the Objects, Archives, Library or Photos catalog, just click Edit at the top of the catalog screen and then check the box labeled Include in Web Export. To deselect a record, uncheck the box and click Save. Figure 1: Include in Web Export Check Box Place a check in this box to select the catalog record for publication.

5 PastPerfect-Online User s Guide 5 To speed up the selection process, you can choose a group of records to publish instead of selecting them one at a time. This group selection is accomplished by using the Research functions of PastPerfect (Query or Catalog Lists). Once the results are listed in a query or once you re viewing the records on a catalog list, you will see a button in the Sidebar labeled Include on Web. Clicking that button will check the box labeled Include in Web Export for each catalog record selected by the query. Figure 2: Select Multiple Records by Query or by Catalog List After performing a query or when viewing the records on a catalog list, click the button labeled Include on Web. To remove a group of records from being published, you can put the items on a catalog list, and then click the Remove from Web button. If you want to select ALL catalog records for publication, this can be done with one button from the Browse Files screen in the Web Publishing Wizard described later.

6 PastPerfect-Online User s Guide 6 SELECTING IMAGES TO EXPORT When you select a catalog record, as described above, all images associated with that record are automatically designated to be published. In some cases, when records have multiple images, you may not want all images included. This adjustment can be made from the Image Management screen. Locate the catalog record, and then click the Image Management button. Next click the Metadata button to the right of the image. The Image Metadata subscreen will display. Notice the check box labeled Include in Web at the bottom of the Image Metadata subscreen. Click Edit and remove the check for any images you do not want to publish to your PastPerfect-Online website, then click Save. Figure 3: Select Images to Include Remove the check mark to avoid posting this image. New web image files are created for each image you select to publish. These files will be resized and optimized for the web, making the published image unsuitable for quality printing. To further protect your valuable images, you can also add a text watermark. This process is described later and shown in Figures 9 and 10. In either case, your archival and discovery images in PastPerfect will not be changed in any way. Only web-published images are watermarked and resized.

7 PastPerfect-Online User s Guide 7 RUN THE WEB PUBLISHING WIZARD Once you have selected the catalog records and images, simply run the Web Publishing Wizard. This will create the files you need to upload to the web server. To start the wizard, select PastPerfect-Online from the PastPerfect Main Menu. Once the Web Publishing Wizard opens, click the Next button to proceed. SELECTING DATA FIELDS TO PUBLISH & SETTING FIELD DISPLAY ORDER The screen in Figure 4 displays all available data fields for each catalog. Select the fields you wish to publish by double clicking on each field you want under the Available Fields column. You can select specific fields for each database by using the tabs across the top. You can also select the order in which the data fields will display on the web pages. To do this, click on a field name you want to move in the Fields to Include in Web column. That field will be highlighted in blue and the gray box to its left will turn into an up/down arrow. Click the gray box and drag the field up or down to the new desired position. Figure 4: Select Data Fields to Include and Set the Field Display Order Use the tabs to select which database displays. Double click a field on the left list to include it on the web it will transfer to the right side. Set the field display order by clicking and dragging the fields.

8 PastPerfect-Online User s Guide 8 MODIFY FIELD NAMES AS THEY DISPLAY ON THE WEB The next screen allows you to change the data field names as they display on the web. When your data displays online, each PastPerfect field will be labeled. By default the field labels will be the same as on the PastPerfect screens. You may, however, change the field names or labels to display differently on the web. Use the screen displayed in Figure 5 to make these changes. The data fields you have selected to publish are displayed in the left column. The yellow column on the right shows the fields names as they will display online. You can click on any text in the right column to customize the display name. Figure 5: Customize Field Names Click on the tabs to display the fields for each database. Type the name you want visitors to see for each field. SET UP ADVANCED SEARCH CATEGORIES & MAP FIELDS The next screen allows you to set up your Advanced Search Categories, which can help Internet visitors maximize their searching experience by narrowing the scope of their search. For example, a visitor might wish to search for items in your collection relating to the country China. A keyword search for China may result in items associated with the country as well as fine china pieces in your

9 PastPerfect-Online User s Guide 9 collection. The advanced search categories can help the visitor find the desired results by allowing them to search for China within the Place advanced search category instead of the Material advanced search category. There are two searches on your PastPerfect-Online site that use advanced search categories: the Click & Search, where visitors can search the collection by choosing a term from a list within a specific advanced search category, and the Advanced Search, where visitors can type in a term or phrase to be searched within a specific advanced search category. You can define up to 15 advanced search categories. We provide some common categories as defaults, which you may use as a starting point. You can also remove our default categories and create your own that are more pertinent to your collection. The left grid on the Advanced Search Categories screen, seen in Figure 6, is where you set up these advanced search categories. Type in the names of the categories you want to provide. You don t have to define all 15 categories. To the right of each search category is a column labeled Order. To adjust the order in which the search categories appear on the website s Advanced Search and Click & Search screens, change the numbers in this column. If you decide to use fewer than 15 search categories, be sure the unused categories are blank, have an order of 0, and are listed at the end. Figure 6: Set Up Advanced Search Categories Type your advanced search categories and set their order.

10 PastPerfect-Online User s Guide 10 After your advanced search categories are defined, you need to map PastPerfect fields to each category. It is a good idea to check each field in all of the databases to make sure all fields you want to be searched are mapped correctly for your categories. The mapping process may seem time consuming at first, but once you have this process completed, PastPerfect saves your selections for future uploads. It is possible to change these mappings later if needed. On the right side of the Advanced Search Categories screen, your selected data fields display, and there are tabs at the top for each database. In the Category Number column next to each field, place a number (1-15) for a relevant search category. For example, you may want the Collection field to be mapped to the Collection advanced search category. You can map more than one PastPerfect field to each category. Perhaps you want Caption and Description in the same advanced search category or you could put Subjects, Search Terms, and Classification all in one category. Figure 7: Map Fields to Advanced Search Categories Be sure to map the fields for all databases. Map fields to appropriate advanced search categories by changing the category number. Category Number column Fields not mapped to an advanced search category (those which have a 0 in the category column) will display online, but they will NOT be searchable online. We recommend mapping all fields (or as many fields as possible) that you have selected for Web Export to an advanced search category to ensure they are

11 PastPerfect-Online User s Guide 11 searched on your website. However, you do not have to provide an advanced search category for every field. You may have some fields containing data that will likely never be searched (dimensions, for example), but you still want that information displayed online. Fields not mapped to an advanced search category should have a 0 in the category column. BROWSE FILES The next screen, shown in Figure 8, allows you to view which records and images have been selected for export. Click on the tab for the database you wish to browse. The tab will list all records from the selected database that are marked for export. If you want to remove a record from the list, uncheck the box in the Publish column. On the left, there are two more buttons. You can click Include All in Web Publishing to mark ALL of the records from the selected database to be published, or Remove All from Web Publishing to remove all of the records for the selected database from being published. Figure 8: Browse Files Before Publishing

12 PastPerfect-Online User s Guide 12 WATERMARK IMAGES (on Create Web Publishing Files Screen) The next wizard screen allows you to set up and apply watermarks to your published images. When images are selected for publication, a large image and a small thumbnail image are created for each image file. Watermarks can be applied to all large images. Figure 9: Set Up Watermark on Create Web Publishing Files Screen Click Watermark Settings to set up your watermark. Check this box to apply watermarks to your published images. If you wish to have watermarks, be sure to put a check next to Apply Watermark to Published Images. You can then click the Watermark Settings button to see Figure 10, which shows the watermark options (text of the watermark, shade, location, etc). The watermark will be the same for all images. Figure 10: Watermark Settings Screen

13 PastPerfect-Online User s Guide 13 CREATE WEB PUBLISH FILES Once you have made all of your selections, you are ready to create the data and image files that you need to upload to the web server. The first time that you perform this operation, be sure all file type boxes are checked. Later, if you have just made a small change, you could create only selected files. This can save time, particularly if you don t need to recreate the image files. Figure 11: Creating Web Publishing Files Click Create Files Now button to create the files that will be published to the web. Choose a maximum image size, measured in pixels. Click the Create Files Now button to start this process. This process could take a while depending on how much data (the number of fields and the number of records) you ve selected for publishing, the number of images you re creating, whether or not watermarking is set up, and the speed of your computer, among other factors.

14 PastPerfect-Online User s Guide 14 PUBLISH FILES TO THE WEB The final step of the wizard is to upload your files to the web server. This operation may take a while, particularly if you have a large number of records and images. You will generally want to check all three boxes: Control Files, Data Files, and Images. Before starting the upload, you will need to enter login information in the fields for: Host Name, User ID, Password, Server Data Folder, and Server Images Folder. To determine the correct entries, please consult the PPO Welcome Letter you received when you purchased PastPerfect-Online or contact PastPerfect Support. Figure 12: Publish Files to the Web To start the process, click the Upload to Website Now button. This will open an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) connection to the web server and transfer the files. The File Transfer Progress section of the screen will display the name of each file as it is uploaded. Because of the wide variety of computer hardware and network connections, there is a possibility that this FTP upload function will not work for you. If you experience problems, please contact PastPerfect Support, and we will assist you with alternative FTP options.

15 PastPerfect-Online User s Guide 15 RUN PPS TO UPDATE YOUR WEBSITE Once you have uploaded your data, the next step is to run the Preprocessor (PPS) from your Internet browser window. In the address line, enter this address with your appropriate information filled in: You can find the information that replaces the userid and clientnumber in your PPO Welcome Letter, which was included in your PastPerfect-Online User s Guide. Our test site example of this path would be and it should look like Figure 13. Enter your CLIENT NUMBER IMS USER ID and IMS PASSWORD in the fields provided, then click the Begin button one time. Figure 13: Run the Preprocessor By adding this URL to your favorites, you can easily access this page in the future. When the preprocessor is finished running, you should receive an saying the process is finished. Please allow 24 to 72 hours for the new records to display on your site. If you do not see these latest records online after 72 hours, please contact us at or pposupport@museumsoftware.com.

16 PastPerfect-Online User s Guide 16 UPDATING YOUR WEBSITE QUICK SUMMARY When you are ready to update your site again with new records or changes, there are three essential steps that must happen after you ve selected the records/images to be included in the web export: 1. Create the Files (in the Web Publishing Wizard). This process takes all of the data and images that you ve selected for online and puts it into new tables that are stored on your local hard drive. These are the Web Files that will be uploaded. 2. Upload/Publish Files (in the Web Publishing Wizard). This process transfers the Web Files created in Step 1 from your hard drive to the web server. 3. Update your site by running the preprocessor ( replacing userid and clientnumber with your settings). This process takes the Web Files on the web server and makes them active and searchable. It can take 24 to 72 hours for the changes to appear online. For detailed step-by-step instructions on subsequent updates to your site, please see the next page.

17 PastPerfect-Online User s Guide 17 UPDATING YOUR WEBSITE DETAILED STEPS When you are ready to update your site again with new records or changes, here are the detailed step-by-step instructions to follow. Before performing these steps, you want to make sure you have selected all of the records you want to be included on your website (you can do this by checking the Include in Web Export box at the bottom of each catalog record, or by running a query/creating a catalog list for the items you want to include and clicking the Include on Web button). Once all of the records that you want have been set for inclusion in the web export, please follow these steps to get them uploaded to your site: Create Data & Images: 1. Click the "PastPerfect-Online" button on the Main Menu. 2. Click the "Next" button. 3. Click the "Create Web Publishing Files" button in the sidebar. 4. Click the box for "Selected Images Only" under the Images section, so that it is checked. 5. Click the "Select Image Folders" button. 6. Click the "Clear All" button. 7. Check the boxes next to the last numbered subfolder. (At some point, folder 001 will fill up and you will switch over to 002. When you see 002 available as an option, choose to create both 001 and 002. The next time you update your site, you will only need to create 002.) 8. Click the "Close" button. 9. Click the "Create Files Now" button. This process will create the data and images for you, and it may take a while. When this process is finished, you are ready to upload the data you have created, as well as any images. Publish Data & Images: 10. Click the "Ok" button when the Create Files process is complete. 11. Click the "Next" button or the Publish Files to Web button. 12. Make sure Control Files, Data Files and Images are checked, under Select Files to Upload. 13. Check the box next to "Upload Only Images in Selected Folders." 14. Click the "Select Image Folders" button.

18 PastPerfect-Online User s Guide Click the "Clear All" button. 16. Check the boxes next to the last numbered subfolder. (At some point, folder 001 will fill up and you will switch over to 002. When you see 002 available as an option, choose to upload both 001 and 002. The next time you update your site, you will only need to upload 002.) 17. Click the "Close" button. 18. Click the "Upload to Website Now" button. This process may take several minutes. When this process is finished, you are ready to update your site. Run PPS to Update Your Site: Once the data and images are uploaded, here are the steps to run the preprocessor to update your site: 19. Open an Internet browser window. 20. In the address line, enter this address (with your appropriate information filled in, in place of userid and clientnumber ): Enter your client number, user ID, and password in the fields provided. (This information was provided in your PPO Welcome Letter - if you do not have it, please let me know.) 22. Click the "Begin" button. When the preprocessor is finished running, you should receive an saying the process is finished. Please allow 24 to 72 hours for the new/updated records to display on your site. If you do not see these latest records online after 72 hours, please contact us at or pposupport@museumsoftware.com.

19 PastPerfect-Online User s Guide 19 USING YOUR SITE Once you have uploaded your data and run the preprocessor, you should be able to navigate to your SEARCH SCREEN LOCATION listed on your PPO Welcome Letter. PastPerfect-Online has several different options for searching. The Keyword Search and the Advanced Search are standard on all PastPerfect-Online sites. The Click & Search and the Random Images are optional search features that you can disable if you would like. KEYWORD SEARCH The Keyword Search, shown in Figure 14, is common to most websites. It allows the visitor to type in a word or phrase and then search your entire PastPerfect- Online site. Data in any fields mapped to an Advanced Search Category will be included in the Keyword Search. Searches are not case-sensitive. Phrases should be enclosed within double quotation marks. The user can narrow this search to include only records with images. They may also narrow the search to include only one type of record, such as Objects, Photos, Library, etc. Figure 14: Keyword Search Page

20 PastPerfect-Online User s Guide 20 After a search is performed, the results are displayed on the Search Results page. The top of the Search Results page (Figure 15) provides a summary of the search and the records that were found. Below the summary, each record is listed with a thumbnail image. Figure 15: Search Results Page Click on Flour Sifter to see the full record. The search string is identified or highlighted in the results. Visitors may click the thumbnail to view a larger image or click the hyperlinked piece of data to view the full record (as seen in Figure 16). Figure 16: Full Record Page

21 PastPerfect-Online User s Guide 21 ADVANCED SEARCH Another search option is Advanced Search. This option allows visitors to specify more details about the search they wish to perform using the advanced search categories that you defined in the Web Publishing Wizard. For example, an Advanced Search can differentiate between China the country and China as a material. The former would look for appearances in the fields you mapped to the Place category. The latter would look to fields mapped to Material. On the Advanced Search page, each search category has a box where you can enter search terms. You may enter either words or phrases. Phrases should be enclosed within double quotation marks. Searches are not case-sensitive. Figure 17: Advanced Search Page Visitors can click the Help button on the screen for more information about how to search using Advanced Search.

22 PastPerfect-Online User s Guide 22 CLICK & SEARCH Click & Search is a quick way to search without having to know what terms are in the database. All terms are presented for you in a clickable manner. On the Click & Search screen, you will see a list of Search Categories, each of which has a clickable alphabet next to it. Click any hyperlinked letter to see terms that begin with that letter. After you click a letter, you may see a list of ranges. Click one of these ranges to continue the search. Figure 18: Click & Search Page Finally, you will see a drop-down box showing selected records. Click the arrow to the right of this drop-down box and scroll through the terms. When you click on a term, the search is performed for you. If you click on Hilton, Ernestine McMillan it will bring up all of the records associated with her. Click & Search is an optional search feature. You can remove this search type from your site by going to your IMS site (see the Design Guide, p. 4) and deselecting it under the Change Options section (Figure 19 below). Once it is unchecked, click the Accept New Options button at the bottom and then the Click & Search button will be removed from your site.

23 PastPerfect-Online User s Guide 23 Figure 19: Click & Search Option on IMS Change Options Screen Uncheck the box for Click & Search to remove that feature from your website. RANDOM IMAGES The Random Images search option allows for multiple random entry points to your collection. Visitors will see a grid filled with images randomly selected from your online records. If they want more information, they can click on the image to view the large image or click on the hyperlinked data to view the full record. Figure 20: Random Images Search

24 PastPerfect-Online User s Guide 24 Random Images is an optional search feature. Institutions that decide not to upload images to their PastPerfect-Online site may find that this option is not necessary. You can remove it by going to your IMS site (see the Design Guide, p. 4) and selecting Change Options. Toward the bottom of the list, you will need to deselect all of the Content Types under the Random Images section (Figure 21). Once they are all deselected, click the Accept New Options button and then the Random Images button will be removed from your site. Figure 21: Random Images Options on IMS Change Options Screen Uncheck all of the content types for Random Images to remove the Random Images button from your website.